The Kiss
by wawwhite
Summary: Alone on a windy day, Ginny feels mournful, but a friend comes by and offers her a glimpse of hope.


Grey clouds raced across the sky, rolling and thundering in the distance over the mountain ridge. The peaks themselves were shrouded in a thick fog, hiding the pines, making them look snow-covered, though it was only September. The same wind that moved the clouds whipped wildly through the tall grass of the rolling heath. This howling sound penetrated the thick glass of the castle's windows and seemed to echo eerily down the corridors. Almost everyone had ventured into the cheerily lit Great Hall to escape the ominous sound. One lone girl remained in the Gryffindor common room, slumped in a chair beside the window that gave best view of the empty, wild heath.

Ginny stared out the pane, her only movement a slow, shallow breathing and the occasional shiver that shook her entire body. Her face was stone, tearless and empty. It had been months since she had cried, the funeral being the last time she had allowed such weakness. Harry and Hermione, not to mention her whole family, had been wonderfully supportive. She just needed times to be alone, to think, to remember.

Slowly, as if in a dream, she pulled her legs toward her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She sighed deeply from the pit of her soul, releasing it in a slow, long whoosh. Trapped in her own thoughts, she didn't notice when someone climbed through the portrait hole. Ginny was startled when the person dropped down suddenly on the wingback chair next to hers.

"Oh! Sorry, Ginny, I didn't even see you there!" apologized Neville, who looked just as startled as she. "I'm sorry; you were just hidden by the chair. I'll let you be alone!" He made movement to get up, but Ginny stopped him.

"No, Neville, please don't go! I never mind talking to you." Ginny slid her legs down and sat up a bit straighter as she returned to looking out the window. Like many of the others, Neville had decided to return to Hogwarts to finish off his seventh year. Last year had been a less than advantageous time to learn scholastically about subjects other than survival.

They sat a few minutes looking out the window in the comfortable silence of old friends who never need to say anything at all. Finally Neville spoke, "Look at those clouds flying, the wind sure is wild today. Makes you think a storm might be coming."

Ginny looked at him, "I think the storm's already here, it just hasn't started to rain."

"Oh, it's just windy; the thunder's way off over the mountains. It's heading away from us." Ginny said nothing, but surveyed the scenery passively. Listening carefully, she noticed that the wind did seem to be calming just the slightest, though the thunder roared just as loud. However, she was only distracted by the untamed weather for a few moments, and her thoughts soon returned to her sorrows. She was again startled when Neville spoke again as she had completely forgotten that he was there.

"How're you and Harry? I'm glad you two finally got together." Ginny flashed back to the present as she remembered their few dates. With anyone else, she would have expected bitterness, but not Neville. He was simply and honestly happy for her.

"Good, we're doing good. Taking it slow, of course." Ginny had never talked to Neville about Harry, and now she wondered why. "He's still worried that we missed something. That he just might have left behind something else and You-Know-Who might manage to come back one day."

"No," Neville vigorously shook his head. "He's dead; dead and gone. That one's not coming back." She was surprised to see such a determined look on the usually peaceful boy's face. Perhaps, she shouldn't have been so surprised, though. Neville had changed, or maybe the ability to take a stand had always been there, and now it just came out more – after That Day.

Again she settled into quietness. Ginny felt more restful than she had in awhile. Despite what everyone else said about the matter, it was assuring to know that one of her most steadfast and wise friends knew that he was never coming back. Thinking back to That Day, Ginny knew in her mind that everything that happened, all the pain and sorrow and tears were worth it – worth destroying evil. But her heart, her heart cried out differently. She tried to voice her thoughts, "It was worth it, I know. But I wish... I wish it hadn't turned out that way." That hadn't come out right at all, she wished that she had kept her mouth shut and her thoughts inside where they belonged.

Nonetheless, Neville nodded and said quietly, "I am sorry, Ginny, that things happened the way that they did. It's hard to remember everything that is better now, the evil that we defeated, when we remember all we lost. I know that it doesn't feel like it now, but I think that one day soon, we'll look back and know that it was all worth it." A beam of sunlight broke through the clouds and streamed through the window onto the two seated figures. Ginny felt her heart lift just slightly in the warmth. Before the clouds moved and hid the warm sun once again, Neville grinned, "After all, on that day good defeated evil."


End file.
